Independent news from the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance

Shell won’t drill Arctic waters for oil this year

Deijae Lam Yuen, the lead organizer of ND Polynesian Cultural Club, has been involved with hosting events, like the 2017 Multicultural Festival, to educate and celebrate with others. Photo Courtesy of ND Polynesian Cultural Club

The Shell Oil Co. has abandoned plans to drill for oil this summer in Arctic waters of the Chukchi Sea off Alaska, with its long-delayed oil spill containment vessel damaged and still in far off Bellingham. The gremlins have repeatedly struck the oil giant, which has planned to complete at least five wells in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas.  Shell said on Monday that it will not complete a single well and limit its drilling to non-oil bearing areas. “During a final test , the containment dome aboard the Arctic Challenger was damaged:  It is clear that some days will be required to repair and fully assess dome readiness,” Shell […]

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Jodi Rave Spotted Bear

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear is the founder and director of the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance, a 501-C-3 nonprofit organization with offices in Bismarck, N.D. and the Fort Berthold Reservation. Jodi spent 15 years reporting for the mainstream press. She's been awarded prestigious Nieman and John S. Knight journalism fellowships at Harvard and Stanford, respectively. She also an MIT Knight Science Journalism Project fellow. Her writing is featured in "The Authentic Voice: The Best Reporting on Race and Ethnicity," published by Columbia University Press. Jodi currently serves as a Society of Professional Journalists at-large board member, an SPJ Foundation board member, and she chairs the SPJ Freedom of Information Committee. Jodi has won top journalism awards from mainstream and Native press organizations. She earned her journalism degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder.